Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant cosmos in Carlsbad should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cosmos

Frost tolerance for cosmos:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Cosmos do well in very little cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in Carlsbad is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cosmos may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cosmos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Carlsbad. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Carlsbad is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Carlsbad you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your cosmos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carlsbad

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Carlsbad

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Carlsbad.